Navenby mapped despite the weather

Despite severe wind and rain, over 45 people turned out on Sunday 9 February to take part in Mapping the Village which took place at The Venue @ Navenby.

Organised by Nicki Jarvis, artist in residence at Mrs Smith’s Cottage, the event was the first part of a year-long project to develop a new Village Trail for Navenby. The creation of the Trail is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and North Kesteven District Council as part of the wider initiative to restore Mrs Smith’s Cottage and enhance Navenby as a great place to visit.

Participants pored over historic and modern maps of Navenby as well as historic photographs, sharing their knowledge of the changing shape of the village and stories about the people who have lived and worked there. The centrepiece was a new 3-metre-long fabric map, stitched with the outlines of the oldest roads in the village. Attendees used marker pen to draw in new roads and sketch in buildings, together with notes about changes to road names and buildings over time. Fuelled by free drinks and homemade cake, everyone found plenty to talk about, from the railway station to the oft-forgotten 6th pub in the village.

Nicki says about the event:

“We were absolutely delighted with the turnout. Everyone was generous with their time and memories, bringing documents to share as well as detailed knowledge about the place they live and clearly love. The conversations were non-stop, and we really enjoyed listening to local people reminiscing and sharing knowledge with each other. The new map is starting to grow, and we plan to hold another event soon.”

Mrs Smith’s Cottage is due to open to the public later this year. For more information about upcoming activities and events go to dev.mrssmithscottage.com